Carmen Long lives in Hanover County, Virginia with her husband, two daughters, a Great Pyrenees, 10 chickens, and 2 aquatic frogs. She is the owner of Rural Revolution LLC, specializing in homemade soaps, is currently a psychology student, and has worked in her local library for twenty-four years. Her long-time love of children's books and all things thrifty is what inspired Thelma and continues to lead her on yard sale excursions, geocaching adventures, and thrift store finds.Ericka Richard has lived in Bell County, Texas almost a year now with her husband, two children, and their dog Chewy. Co-writing and illustrating a children's book has been a dream of hers since the eighth grade.… Co-creating Thrifty Thelma with Carmen has been a great opportunity to work with her friend of over twenty years. She is a psychology major, a painter, and has been a military spouse for many years now. She also, loves refurbishing "thrifty" furniture and dabbles in photography.